"En una región muy remota de la antigua China Imperial había un ruiseñor que, posado en la rama de un árbol milenario, cantaba sin cesar, como lanzando sus notas al cielo azul".

This book was a classic book. I did enjoy it, however it was pretty long. I do plan on teaching elementary school students, but I do not think this would be a good book for my class because it is pretty long and at some parts I even found myself losing focus while I was reading it. The words seemed to be jammed packed on each page to where the texts were almost taking up an entire page and it got overwhelming. Great book though it you don't get overwhelmed! ( )

Hans Christian Andersen wrote this fairy tale in 1844. In this book the story is retold by Stephen Mitchell. Mitchell does a really great job telling this story about an emperor who wants to capture the nightingale for its song. It is a very long tale but keeps readers interested by teaching an important lesson. The illustrations were done by Bagram Ibatoulline. They are done from a farther out point of view, which shows a larger perspective. The surroundings of the characters are very detailed and readers can look at them for a long time and still find things that they had not noticed before. ( )

A good translation beautifully illustrated. The moral holds up very well, and Andersen's story is gently witty. ( )

The Nightingale, illustrated by Mary J. Newill.

Originally published by D.B. Updike at the Merrymount Press in 1895, and then reprinted in this edition by R.H. Russell in 1898, this nineteenth-century retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Nightingale features the translation of H.W. Dulcken, and the gorgeous engraving-style illustrations of Mary J. Newill.

A student at the Birmingham School of Art, and a participant in the late nineteenth, and early twentieth-century Arts and Crafts Movement, Newill was a well-known illustrator, stained glass designer, and embroiderer. Her landscape work was considered particularly fine, and won praise from figures such as Walter Crane.

The five plates contained in The Nightingale are simply beautiful: detailed, bold, compelling. Judged on artwork alone, this outstanding little gem of a book merits a five-star rating. Unfortunately, Dulcken's stiff, archaic-sounding translation - so very Victorian in style - detracted somewhat from my enjoyment. Still, Newill's illustrations are the real appeal here, and they do not disappoint. If they ever do publish a retrospective of her work, I'll be first on line to buy it! ( )